Creative workshops open
In San Biagio Platani
visitors “behind the scenes”
of the Easter Arches
In the work of the two brotherhoods
of Madunnara and Signurara
involved the whole community
It is considered the largest collective folk art event in all of Sicily. In the Agrigento village of San Biagio Platani, a total of about 3,000 inhabitants, the making of the Easter Arches that will lavishly adorn the town’s historic center from Sunday, March 31, brings the entire community into play; all the people of San Biagio are involved, from children to the elderly, the historical and living memory of an ancient tradition.
Overcoming the delivery of absolute reserve that unites the two antagonistic confraternities that make the Arches, the Madunnara confraternity, which refers to Mary Most Holy, and the Signurara confraternity, which refers to the Risen Christ, in anticipation of the unveiling on Resurrection Sunday, it will be possible to take a peek “behind the scenes” of one of the most interesting events on the entire Island.
These days, the warehouses that house the workshops are open to the public, where the Madunnara and Signurara people prepare their sumptuous, yet ephemeral works of art, true masterpieces made with salt dough, legumes, grains, woven reeds…
An unmissable opportunity to learn about a unique tradition up close, through a creative journey that can be enjoyed by all, combining artisan knowledge, myth, religious tradition and contemporary spirit.
The workshops are open every day of the week, for an experiential journey led by the locals, who will take the visitor through pistachio groves and art workshops, explorations in nature, museums of local artisan knowledge and tastings of zero-mile productions.
In the weeks leading up to the unveiling of the colossal works created by the members of the two brotherhoods of the Madunnara and Signurara, the people of Sambiagesi are busy finding the materials essential to their creation. Thus begins the collection of willows and reeds to be woven; and of legumes and grains for the creation of the majestic mosaics. The absolute protagonist of the decorations is bread, prepared in the most curious forms, thanks to the inventiveness of the villagers, who this year for their artistic creations were inspired by the theme “Peace and Love.”
The Easter Arches for San Biagio Platani are the calling card of an entire community, the strongest and most representative identity sign.
Since the morning of Easter Day, the prodigy of the revitalization of a town of just three thousand souls has been taking place for an entire month, with the arrival of thousands of visitors: a turnaround that, although temporary, enjoys wide repercussions on the well-being of the local economy. Sicilian hinterland areas are not only silent places, pressed by the grip of depopulation, they can also be strong attractors, if they are aware of their specificity and turn it into an opportunity, an engine of development for the local economy.
“The Easter Arches,” says the mayor of San Biagio Platani, Salvatore Di Bernardo, “show, in fact, how it is possible to continue to vibrate with vitality and creativity, making art; and to activate opportunities for cultural contamination, promoting tradition. A generational relay ensures that knowledge is handed down from the elders to the young, who are in turn able to include elements and tools related to the contemporary.”
An event also enhanced by the RiGenerAzioni Archi di Piano 2030 project , winner of the Boroughs Call for Projects promoted by the Ministry of Culture as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Pnrr), aimed at promoting social, cultural and economic growth through the active involvement of all sectors of the community.
A project that is also allowing inaccessible places to be returned to the community. “One example is the reopening of the municipal library, which has been closed for 20 years,” Di Bennardo says, “or the creation of new spaces for sociality and exchange, such as areas for campers and picnics in Contrada Montagna or coworking stations in the municipal premises adjacent to the permanent workshops of the Easter Arches; and, then, recreational places on the premises of the municipal theater, opened with the activation of music and theater workshops, and a documentation center of cultural heritage, with the activation of the Observatory on the intangible cultural heritage of the territory.
Text by Editors
